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Courts Push Back Against More Aggressive IRS Tactics

The IRS and the Department of Justice have taken increasingly aggressive positions in tax enforcement.1 Three recent decisions demonstrate the willingness of courts to review the government’s tactics and to require the government to adhere to long-settled legal standards.

The Government Cannot Build a Tax Case From Illegally Seized Financial Records

Most white collar criminal investigations will include the examination of financial records. It is of course not unusual for the government to look to the manner in which the so-called proceeds of alleged wrongdoing were handled to add tax, currency reporting, or money laundering counts to an indictment. In United States v. Srivastava,2 however, the court placed limits on the extent to which the government can obtain a search warrant for one purpose, and use the records to go forward with a new investigation into tax crimes.3 The defendant in Srivastava is a doctor, and he had been under investigation for healthcare fraud. As the special ag

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